Rocking and rolling with Ca²⁺ channels

Voltage-sensitive Ca²⁺ channels are a large family of related heterooligomers that couple cell excitability to intracellular signalling. Recent studies on mice carrying Ca²⁺ channel mutations, or in which Ca²⁺ channel subunits have been deleted, have provided important information about the roles carried out by these molecules in cardiovascular function, pain, epilepsy, migraine and deafness, in addition to further defining how Ca²⁺ channels regulate the physiology of excitable cells.